Arolucha, AAA charity show, DTU tag title change, CMLL weekend results, ELITE

ELITE (FRI) 12/08/2017 Gimnasio Benito Juárez, Cuautilan, Estado de México [+LuchaTV]
1) Hijo del Alebrije b Halloween Jr., Climax Jr., Rambo Jr. [Copa Jr.]
match full of accidents
2) Emperador Azteca & Fly Warrior b Dr. Karonte & El Rielero (Jalisco) and Ciclón Ramírez Jr. & Relámpago and Metaleón & Mr. Leo
Relampago replaced Huracan Ramirez.
3) Heddi Karaoui & Imposible b Bandido & Xtreme Tiger
Imposible replaced Cerrajero. Karaoui defeated Bandido to set up a title match.
4) Fuerza Guerrera & Fuerza Negra b Dragón Dorado & Octagón
Fuerzas fouled Octagon & Dorado to set up the win. One of the ring posts broke during the match and the ring remained broken the rest of the show.
5) Garza Jr. DQ Sharly Rockstar
Zorro, and whoever his mystery partner was, did not appear, so Garza and Sharly faced off instead of teaming. Garza faked a foul.
6) Cibernético & Hijo De Dos Caras b Blue Demon Jr. & Golden Magic and Mr. Electro & Trauma II
Espiritu (a Radical!) helped Cibernetico & Dos win. Trauma & Blue Demon teased a singles match.

The entrance setup ELITE had for this show looked major league, they at least look like they’re making an effort to try different matches (Trauma/Demon) and, as best I can tell in the photos, they drew a decent amount of people for the venue. Show doesn’t sound like it went too well, though, with those last three matches having no chance with the broken ring (and maybe not having a great chance anyway.)

I’d say the second match is the only one you probably need to check out on TV, but there’s still no announcement of when that’ll be happening. They’ve said they’ll be on Azteca, but there’s no sign of a start date, and this is going anywhere without one of those. No next show has been announced either yet, and they had announced this one before the last one happened. They probably have four hours of TV taped between these two shows (assuming they want to even use the broken ring matches), so there’s no real need for more TV, but a steady amount of news or plans are the only way we can tell if a promotion is still alive these days.

AAA (SAT) 12/09/2017 Gimnasio Olímpico Juan de la Barrera, Ciudad de México, Distrito Federal [@ZonaRudaTDN, The Gladiatores, AAA, MT, Record, Televisa]
1) Ángel Mortal Jr., Australian Suicide, Estrella Divina b Angelikal, Hijo Del Vikingo, Lanzeloth 
Suicide pinned Vikingo
2) Dinastía, Faby Apache, Niño Hamburguesa b Goya Kong, Mamba, Mini Histeria 
Goya suffered a foot (ankle?) injury on a dive
3) Joe Lider, Parka Negra, Súper Fly b Aerostar, Drago, Raptor 
4) Dark Cuervo, Dark Scoria, La Parka COR Dave The Clown, Monsther Clown, Murder Clown 
Aerostar did a light tower dive onto the rudos to get them counted out
5) Hijo del Fantasma, Pagano, Psycho Clown b Averno, Chessman, Texano Jr. 

Marisela Pena said all the ticket revenue would go to rebuild the two schools. No exact amount was announced. They kept the building dark, but it looked far from full. Still probably helped raise some money.

Goya Kong was hurt at the end of her match and needed medical attention. Press reports had it originally as being minor, but it looks like she underwent surgery Sunday.

They were pushing the sponsors hard, with a World of Warcraft on the apron, giant Epson prints of La Parka and Dave the Clown bookending the entrance, and GoPro cameras everywhere – it looked like they even had one on Hijo del Fantasma’s son head when he came to the ring to celebrate with his father after the main event.

Vampiro was right: it did seem like they were taping the show for TV because they had commentators. I should never doubt Vampiro! Who knows when/where it would air – maybe that’ll also be something with GoPro.

The lineup was different than had been originally announced, but the last posters they put out had the correct lineup. Wish that could happen a bit more often.

I have been making the reasonable assumption AAA is back in this same building in mid January for Guerra de Titanes. However, AAA didn’t announce that at the show, and they’re still listing the vague “Guerra de Titanes – Enero de 2018, CDMX” on TV. Maybe they just think it’s over a month away and too soon to promote, but it seems kind of strange since most who’d come out to this show would want to come back for the bigger show if they knew when it was happening.

DTU TWS (SAT) 12/09/2017 Arena Cancún, Cancún, Quintana Roo [+LuchaTV, DTU]
3) Billy Gamer & Toto Gamer b Devitt Rodríguez & Steel Dragón
4) León Rojo Jr. & Ovett b Ángel o Demonio & Taurus
5) Moria b Angelito Mágico, Kevin, Lokillo, Cobre
6) Mickey Midas & Myron Reed b Camuflaje & Junior © and Drastik Boy & Jimmy [DTU NEXO]
New champs. Camuflaje & Junior lose on their fourth defense.
7) Cíclope & Miedo Extremo b Ángelus & Ángelus Fly [seconds hair]
TWS promoter Luis Novelo lost his hair.

It was really weird that DTU was posting live results from Cancun, when almost no DTU shows ever have results. (The Sunday results made it one match before vanishing, which is normal.) It made a little more sense when Reed & Midas won the tag team titles. They were already scheduled to face Jimmy & Principe Cometa in Arena Aficion, and that’s likely a title match now.

CMLL (SAT) 12/09/2017 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Bengala & Sonic b Apocalipsis & Grako
tecnicos took 2/3
2) Artillero, Inquisidor, Metálico b Flyer, Magia Blanca, Príncipe Diamante
Magia Blanca replaced Sensei on Monday. Rudos took 1/3.
3) Guapito & Microman b Mije & Perico Zakarías
Chamuel was referee for this one fall match.
4) Ephesto, Misterioso Jr., Sagrado b Drone, Pegasso, Rey Cometa
Ephesto replaced Luciferno. Rudos took 1/3.
5) Felino, Mr. Niebla, Último Guerrero b Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Valiente
Rudos took 1/3.
6) Volador Jr. b Mephisto
Volador took 2/3, with CMLL saying this was one of the best matches of 2017 and money was thrown in.

I can kinda imagine what Volador/Mephisto must’ve looked like, and it getting MOTYC talk, and not being as into as that, so I’m OK missing it. (I suspect it looks a lot like their matches in Mexico and Guadalajara. from earlier this year.)

CMLL (SUN) 12/10/2017 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Astral & Magnus b Camorra & Yago
Yago replaced Cholo on Tuesday.
2) Amapola, La Comandante, Tiffany b La Jarochita, La Vaquerita, Marcela
3) Puma, Tiger, Vangellys b Blue Panther Jr., Johnny Idol, The Panther
Rudos took 1/3. Idol didn’t get along with The Panthers and cost them the match. The Panthers attacked Idol after the match but Sam Adonis made the save and they took the Panther’s masks.
4) Felino, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero b Ángel de Oro, Blue Panther, Stuka Jr.
Felino replaced Sam Adonis on Monday (who was there anyway, so I dunno.) Rudos took 1/3.
5) Ephesto, Mephisto, Negro Casas b Carístico, Dragón Lee, Mistico
Mistico & Caristico did not get along, causing their team to lose.

It’s happening. Crowd was lower than usual with the final of the LigaMX season going on at the same time.

AroLucha (SUN) 12/10/2017 Nashville Fairgrounds Sports Arena, Nashville, Tennessee [JAMESESORRELLS]
1) Willie McClinton b Mr. 450
Willie McClinton is Willie Mack. Mack won clean with a 450 splash.
2) Máscarita Dorada b Demus
Mascarita was sitting in the front row while the show was being introduced, but Demus attacked him to start their match. Dorada got the win.
3) Keyra & Lacey Lane b Taya & Vanilla Vargas
Reby Hardy introduced herself as the (heel) authority figure over the women. She setup this match as the person who got the pinfall facing the person who didn’t take the pinfall on the other team “next week”. Keyra & Lane both have Varagas pinned, but Lane stops pinning before the three count. Keyra & Taya will face off for the women’s title next week.
4) James Storm b Trey Miguel
Trey Miguel appeared unannounced, insulted the crowd and made an open challenge. James Storm appears as a surprise and beat him.
5) MVP DQ Sammy Guevara
MVP was DQed for pulling the ref in front of a Guevara dropkick.
6) Hurricane Helms, Jack Edwards, Máximo b Daga, Garza Jr., La Máscara
Jack Edwards is Jack Evans. Maximo pinned Daga
7) Penta 0M & Rey Mysterio Jr. b John Hennigan & Rush
A video was shown of Rush & Johnny attacking earlier in the day. Rey started the show in the ring and was confronted by John & Rush again, with Penta making the save but refusing a handshake from Rey. Rey beat John.

They sold out; they probably over sold out in reality. It looked like the set up was for seating on just two sides of the ring, with production on the third and the entrance on the fourth, but a message on their site reveals they had plenty of people standing around near the hard cam and apology for not having enough seating to accommodate everyone. 300 or 400 people at $20 a pop probably still doesn’t pay the talent costs alone – maybe doesn’t even cover the main event – but I’m sure it helps mitigate the costs a bit while they figure out what it is they’re doing.

Show got strongly favorable reviews on Twitter, with the main event seemingly getting over really well and people liking the action on the rest of the show. A guy like James Storm really appealed to the Nashville crowd – he started out there and was there forever as part of TNA – but the flip side is there’s not a whole lot of lucha in Arolucha. There were 22 wrestlers on the show, and only about half are people would generally associate with lucha libre. (Let’s count: Mascarita, Demus, Keyra, Maximo, Daga, Garza, Mascara, Penta, Rey and Rush for sure. You can debate if Taya or Jack count too at this point and I’ll count them as half a point each to make it simple.) There’s a trend of promotions using the word “lucha” to sound exotic cool, or to align them as part of a specific market that might be in more demand than the general wrestling audience. Their social media presence leading into this show has 100% felt that way, just people who didn’t know the first thing about lucha libre promoting a show because they see that as the hot thing at the moment, and they got Konnan as much to be their shield against negative accusations as anything else he might offer. I’m kind of a billion different thoughts on this show at once.

• as a fan of lucha libre: James Storm vs Trey Miguel and MVP vs Sammy Guevara don’t sound much lucha libre
• as a person who likes good wrestling: yes, please give me Trey Miguel & Sammy Guevera matches please (though these two matches in particular don’t sound like much)
• as a dispassionate business observer: “Miguel” and “Vargas” and “Guevera” also sound Hispanic enough that some geek in a suit in a TV network boardroom isn’t going to blink twice
• as a person with a slight sense of history: better this than booking Blue Demon Jr. vs Chavo Guerrero Jr. matches in a misguided attempt at authenticity.

It comes off more like reuniting old TNA friends, or The Crash friends, more than trying to do lucha libre itself. But, given the people in charge, that’s probably exactly what should be expected out of this whole thing. And I suppose none of this matters, because who knows who’ll be back if/when they actually run again. Juventud Guerrera seemed to say he’ll be part of Arolucha next year, which suggests they have more dates set up even though they say don’t have a TV deal. That’s optimistic. They did not announce another show in the building today, but they definitely left excited about the possibility.

The women’s match was streamed on Facebook. Looks like they’re setting up Taya/Keyra as the Taya/Ayako replay that never was. Also looks like they’re setting up Reby in the very played out authority figure role, which is the thing everyone is going to blame Russo for.

Vince Russo and the Harris Brothers were spotted during the show. I do not like those three people from what I know of them. They appear to be both prone to saying really dumb things, and show signs (some physical!) of being racists. I don’t really want to support anything they’re involved in, and I’m disappointed people I like are working with them, even while acknowledging a) there’s not many people to choose from and b) the only difference between these guys and (some) others are that these guys were dumb enough to publicize their dumb behavior and others are better at hiding it. Part of me would like them to come out and do the whole “I’m sorry, that was messed up, here’s how I learned from my mistakes” and part of me wouldn’t believe it even if they said it. So I don’t have a great ending here, other than this is a lucha libre thing, and I cover lucha libre things, so Arolucha will be a thing I’ll be covering, but I needed to put this paragraph here just to make it clear I was aware of all this (and maybe in case you weren’t.)

AAA’s put up this week’s TV show.

CultIcon started a look back at lucha libre on WCW Nitro: Part 1 & Part 2.

DoradaFan has highlights of 11/21-24 CMLL shows.

Microman translates Los Reyes del Biutiful’s interview of Lady Shani (who turns out to be a Low Ki fan) and Lucha Libre Para Todos interviewing Baby Star Jr. (who also wrestled as Mini Cyber Black.)

 

Bernado Guzman writes about Sam Adonis vs Negro Casas.

La Joranda visited the Zona 23 extreme show from last month as an outsider to a strange event.

an interview with Zacatas luchador Ecoloco Jr.

Lineups

CMLL (SAT) 12/16/2017 Arena México
1) Acero & Aéreo vs Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Violencia
2) Astral, Retro, Sangre Imperial vs Apocalipsis, Artillero, Camorra
3) La Jarochita, La Vaquerita, Sanely vs Metálica, Tiffany, Zeuxis
4) Blue Panther Jr. vs Hechicero [lightning]
5) Blue Panther, Rey Cometa, Stuka Jr. vs Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto
6) Marco Corleone, Soberano Jr., Valiente vs Johnny Idol, Okumura, Sam Adonis

If it streamed, I would watch the fourth match with popcorn, hoping Hechicero twisted him into a pretzel shape. And then Panther would probably win to set up a silly title match.

Sometimes I forget Camorra is still a thing. And there he is. He hasn’t appeared on a streaming show since April.

CMLL (SUN) 12/17/2017 Arena México
1) Astral & Magnus vs Akuma & Grako
2) Drone, Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa vs Misterioso Jr., Tiger, Warrior Steel
3) Fiero, Oro Jr., Pegasso, Star Jr., Starman vs Cancerbero, Hijo del Signo, Nitro, Raziel, Templario [cibernetico]
4) Ángel de Oro, Soberano Jr., Stuka Jr. vs Felino, Forastero, Negro Casas
5) Carístico, Dragón Lee, Niebla Roja vs Euforia, Terrible, Último Guerrero

I give myself no credit for correctly predicting the cibernetico. It was too easy.

Warrior Steel is back again. My theory, crazy as it may be, is they don’t book him much because they don’t want to put a guy that big in openers but he doesn’t have the tenure to work second matches.